28 schoolchildren injuredLudhiana, December 22
At least 28 students sustained injuries when the speeding school bus they were travelling in collided with a tractor-trolley near the Tajpur road here this morning in dense fog. Eight students sustained grievous injuries in the accident.
(1) The mangled remains of the school bus and the tractor-trolley after their collision in Ludhiana on Thursday. (2 & 3) Some of the injured students in city hospitals.
Photos: inderjeet verma

Life thrown out of gear
Ludhiana, December 22
The dense fog that engulfed the whole city and its outskirts this morning threw life out of gear, affecting people from all walks of life.

8 fatalities in 21 days
Ludhiana, December 22
With eight cases of road fatalities due to dense fog reported in the city in the past 21 days, the foggy weather is getting dangerous with each passing day.

power crisis
Four-day weekly off slapped on industry
Ludhiana, December 22
The power scenario in the state has once again become grim, with the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) unable to draw power from the Northern Grid due to persistent low frequency. To make matters worse, all units of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Power at Bathinda and Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat tripped this morning, depriving the state suddenly of some 1000 mw power.

Health workers lathi-charged
Ludhiana, December 22
ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers of the health department who were protesting to get their demands fulfilled by holding a dharna at the Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital were allegedly
lathi-charged by the police personnel here this afternoon when they tried to march towards the residence of Health and Family Welfare Minister Satpal
Gosain.
ASHA workers in confrontation with policemen in Ludhiana on Thursday.
A Tribune photograph

Relief for focal point industry
Chandigarh, December 22
In a major relief to hundreds of industrial units in Focal Point, Phase VIII,
Ludhiana, the Punjab Government today claimed to have corrected anomalies in the calculation of enhancement cost imposed on them. As a result, these industrialists will now have to pay just Rs 24 per square yard as enhancement cost, instead of Rs 250 per square yard
(Rs 1.49 lakh per acre) demanded from them.

Firemen seek better pay
Ludhiana, December 22
Slamming the state government for remaining deaf to their long pending demands, the Punjab Fire Brigade Employees Federation today reiterated the demand for immediate revision of pay scales of the firemen, grant of allowances and other financial benefits at par with other government employees and fresh recruitment to fill up all vacant posts in the municipal fire brigades in the state.Bhupinder Singh, president, Punjab Fire Brigade Employees Federation, addresses a general body meeting in Ludhiana on Thursday. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Banks ‘step-motherly’ treatment irks SMEs
Ludhiana, December 22
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the region are sore over the “step-motherly” treatment being meted out to them by banks. The SMEs rued that the banks were not providing enough benefits to them as instructed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The interest rates were getting higher while the loan benefits were being “squeezed” by them.

Protest

On the call of the Punjab State Pharmacists’ Association, members of the sangharsh committee block the traffic at the Fountain Chowk in Ludhiana.
Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Candidates willing to contest Vidhan Sabha elections can spend Rs 16
lakh: DC
Ludhiana, December 22
Candidates willing to contest the Vidhan Sabha elections can spend Rs 16 lakhs on the poll. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana while meeting aspiring candidates and seasoned politicians of various parties willing to contest the Vidhan Sabha elections at his office here today.

12 SHOs transferred
Ludhiana, December 22
At least 12 station house officers (SHOs) have been transferred following the orders of Commissioner of Police Dr SS Chuhan here today.

Fog Blindfolds motorists
Ludhiana, December 22
Dense fog engulfed the city till 7.30 am today. People were forced to switch on the fog lights of their vehicles to avoid inconvenience. Metrologists maintained that though minimum temperature hovered around 4.8°C in the past 24 hours, still residents preferred to remain indoors due to the chill in the atmosphere.

Motorists had to switch on fog lights to make their way in dense fog; and (right) a school boy braves the chill on way to his school in Ludhiana on Thursday. Photos: Inderjeet Verma

They brave chill without regrets
Ludhiana, December 22
City elites eagerly await winter to celebrate New Year or switch on blowers and heaters, sip hot cup of coffee and tea. But not all those living in the city are blessed. For underprivileged section of society winter is nightmarish. They fight for their survival and brave the chill on footpaths, but have no regrets.

A few poor persons burn wood to keep themelves warm near the Mata Rani Chowk in Ludhiana on Thursday. Photo: Inerjeet Verma

MC amends bylaws; to get tough with meat sellers
Ludhiana, December 22
If the amended Municipal Meat Bylaws 2011 of the Municipal Corporation here are any indication, the meat-sellers are in for tough regulatory measures in the days to come. The meat shops in the city will have to adhere to norms fixed for cleanliness of the premises, personal hygiene of the workers, display restrictions and locational guidelines in future.

use of mail ids
Official order has little impact
Ludhiana, December 22
The computer teachers of the district schools have been using the official mail IDs to publicise the union programmes. The district education officer had already sent the instructions to schools not to use the official mail Ids for personal and union activities but to no avail.

‘Media, Internet can bring misery to teenagers’
Ludhiana, December 22
"As in chemistry, the state of transition between the formations of final products is the most unstable and have maximum energy, similar is the state in the age of adolescence," said Varinder Kaur, District Science Supervisor (DSS) during a workshop of Nodal Teachers on Adolescent Education organised at the Ramgarhia School. Around 200 teachers participated from about hundred government schools.

RIMT students lift trophies
Mandi Gobindgarh, December 22
The students of the RIMT College of Architecture lifted trophies in the INSDAG annual competition for best innovative use of steel.

from schools
Christmas celebrations
Ludhiana: The St Xavier Playway School celebrated Christmas. The students were dressed in colourful attires. Some fun games like musical chair and colour recognition were
organised. Santa Claus distributed gifts and sweets among the students. The Christmas cake was cut at the school.

Students dressed in colourful attire to celebrate Christsmas at St Xaviers Playway School in
Ludhiana. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Guru Teg Bahadur National College team wins gold medal
Ludhiana, December 22
The basketball team (boys) of the Guru Teg Bahadur National College,
Dakha, won gold medal in Panjab University Inter-College Competition defeating last year's champion, Guru Gobind Singh College,
Garhdiwal, in the finals on the college campus. Earlier, the team had defeated Govind National College,
Narangwal, in semi-final match. A cash prize was announced for the team members.

Man robbed of laptop, cash
Ludhiana, December 22
Ashok Kumar Bajaj, a resident of Sector-32 Chandigarh road, alleged that four men traveling in an autorickshaw thrashed him following an accident on December 19.